The Long View of Identity

Andy Oram wrote an entry at OnLamp.com on the long
view of identity. The article is good overview of his thoughts
after attending the Berkman Identity Mashup. He concludes:

I can't end this article without sharing some of the most pessimistic fears aired at the Mashup by some of its most well-informed participants, such as Stefan Brand. Brand admitted to feeling near despair sometimes, because we could easily move into a society where RFIDs are embedded in our bodies and every move is tracked. "I'm afraid that, despite all our best efforts, our technical solutions may drive us into totalitarianism." There were many responses that tried to assuage this fear, but no one could banish it.

Perhaps our best hope was cited by Berkman Center fellow Mary Rundle, who said that we must maintain multiple sources of power that can constrain each other, so that "power cannot be used to amass more power."